Baptist Communion?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JessiL
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We do not respect the false beliefs of anybody. What we do respect is their human dignity.
 
In the Catholic Church, we’re told not to receive Communion in Protestant churches because they don’t believe as we do. Her priest shouldn’t have told her it was okay to do so.
 
lilypadrees said:
In the Catholic Church, we’re told not to receive Communion in Protestant churches because they don’t believe as we do. Her priest shouldn’t have told her it was okay to do so.
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Thanks for a dignified answer lilypadrees. I sincerely was asking the question because I myself have worked closely with priests over the years and asked them the same questions and often get opposite answers. Often the advice here at CAF to an inquirer is to go and ask/talk to their priest and I have often wondered how good that advice really is when different priests give different answers. My experience working with priests tells me they are not all cut from the same cloth.
 
AlNg said:
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Wannano:
Who do you listen to if next week a new priest is assigned to your parish and you ask him and he tells you it is a sin?
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I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
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Thanks for nothing.
 
You’re very welcome, Wannano.

I’ve been blessed to have wonderful Priests, one later became our Bishop, who were both knowledgeable and patient in answering my many questions. I try to respond in the same manner they did (and would).
 
lilypadrees said:
You’re very welcome, Wannano.

I’ve been blessed to have wonderful Priests, one later became our Bishop, who were both knowledgeable and patient in answering my many questions. I try to respond in the same manner they did (and would).
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I too know and am friends with a couple of wonderful priests, just to clarify!
 
lilypadrees said:
Her priest shouldn’t have told her it was okay to do so.
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You don’t know the circumstances of her case. Canon 844 generally does not allow Catholics to take communion in a Protestant church. But Canon 844 includes an exception to this rule “whenever necessity requires or general spiritual advantage suggests, and provided that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided.” So if this was an instance of an exceptional case as allowed by canon 844, her priest would be right and you would be wrong.
 
AlNg said:
But Canon 844 includes an exception to this rule “whenever necessity requires or general spiritual advantage suggests, and provided that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided.” So if this was an instance of an exceptional case as allowed by canon 844, her priest would be right and you would be wrong.
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Please re-read the canon; you’ve misinterpreted it. The permission being given in c. 844 §2 applies only to “non-Catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments are valid.” The communion in Protestant denominations is not a valid sacramental Eucharist, and therefore, 844 §2 does not apply.
 
When someone asks you, ask them “what do you believe about the Lord’s Supper?”

They will explain about symbolism and remembrance, if they are Southern Baptist you could even say:

"As a Southern Baptist you believe: The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members … memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming according to your official denomination documents on SBC.net.

As a Catholic I believe that through the words instituted by Our Lord on the night before He was betrayed, spoken a priest who is ordained according to apostolic succession, the elements become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ Jesus under the appearance of bread and wine.

Because we have such divergent beliefs, out of respect for your beliefs, I cannot partake of the Lord’s Supper here. I spend those moments in the prayer that Christ prayed in His Agony, that someday we will all be one."
 
No, that canon also states;§2. Whenever necessity requires it or true spiritual advantage suggests it, and provided that danger of error or of indifferentism is avoided, the Christian faithful for whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a Catholic minister are permitted to receive the sacraments of penance, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick from non-

Catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments are valid.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P2S.HTM

The key word here is where these sacraments are valid. Communion in the Baptist church is not valid.
 
GKMotley said:
But 844/ 4 does. Theoretically, depending on the case.
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No. 844 §4 is dealing with an entirely different situation. It talks about special circumstances which might allow non-Catholic Christians to approach the sacraments in a Catholic church.

In any case, @AlNg literally quotes 844 §2:
AlNg said:
“whenever necessity requires or general spiritual advantage suggests, and provided that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided.”
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So, to summarize:
  • 844 §2 does not allow a Catholic to receive Protestant communion.
  • 844 §4 does not apply to Catholics.
 
Agreed. And I was thinking of that other specific subject, for which #4 would apply (theoretically). And stuck that comment here where it has no business being. I might erase it, but will leave it up to show GKMotley sometimes makes reflexive/inappropriate posts. But is generally trustworthy. Mostly.
 
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BoomerangToo said:
Hi JessiL, as usual, I’m going to have to disagree with the other advice you have already received. If your priest says it’s not a sin, then go and don’t worry about it. Go ahead and partake of the bread and juice. Just consider it the same way the Baptists do: it’s a symbolic reenactment of the Last Supper; a memorial. I don’t see anything wrong with “remembering” Jesus with your Baptist friends. It’s not taking anything away from the Holy Eucharist, and it may lead others (including your husband) to the fullness of the truth in Catholicism.
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To Catholics, the reception of Communion is more than symbolic. It is Holy Communion. We receive Jesus Himself in the Eucharist. So while we are allowed to visit other churches with our spouses, other family members or friends, we are told by our priests not to partake in their Communion because of the differences in belief. We cannot be “cafeteria Catholics” believing it’s okay to receive the Eucharist in our Church and then going and receiving symbolic only Communion in other churches.

Sadly, the OP’s priest advised her wrongly as you do by encouraging her to receive in a church that we are not yet fully united with.

See Code of Canon Law (canon 916 for Catholics and canon 844 s 3 and 4 explaining about other churches ).
 
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I stand by my comments regardless of your opinion, AINg. In the back of our Missals, it states who may and who may not receive Communion and why.
 
poche said:
The key word here is where these sacraments are valid.
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Yes. I was quoting from an article in US Catholic magazine and should have looked up canon 844 on the Vatican’s website.
US Catholic magazine has an article Can a Catholic receive communion in a Protestant church? It is by
Kevin P. Considine. He quotes canon 844 (partially as you point out) and the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism which says that “the gaining of a needed grace sometimes commends” it. He appears to be talking about receiving communion in a Lutheran church at least in exceptional circumstances. Here’s the article:

 
AlNg said:
US Catholic magazine has an article Can a Catholic receive communion in a Protestant church? It is by
Kevin P. Considine. He quotes canon 844
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I think he goes off the rails right at the beginning:
If a Catholic receives communion from a Protestant minister, it is generally considered “illicit” or unlawful.
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No… the canon is talking about receiving sacraments. A Protestant minister does not distribute the Sacrament of the Eucharist. So, it’s not about “illicit reception of a sacrament.”

Then, he goes into the “exception”, but he mischaracterizes the exception that’s being given: it’s not about receiving communion in an ecclesial community (i.e., a Protestant denomination) – it’s about a Cathoiic receiving from a Church that has valid Eucharist (e.g., an Orthodox church)!

So, yet again, this author is comparing apples to oranges, and as a result, he gives bad advice. 🤷‍♂️

(One would hope that a theology professor might understand Catholic practice better than that. To be fair, though, he does admit what he’s up to at the end of the article: “In the end, this may be fulfilling the “spirit” of canon law while going against the letter.”)
 
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Read through these posts and really am respectfully not in agreement with most:
  1. Your priest said it was OK and not a sin. Done.
  2. When you refuse to partake, you argue later with your husband; not good.
  3. The Catholic Church has guidelines to non-Catholics because we believe very differently that communion in bread and wine is the actual body and blood of Christ. Someone not in full communion with that belief should not receive because it means nothing to them.
  4. Other churches that use communion as only a symbol really do not have guidelines for Catholics visiting in their church.
JessiL: You know where your heart is and that is in the Catholic faith where the real presence of Christ is in the Eucharist. When you go to church with you husband, know that your priest is right and that it is OK and not a sin, just a symbol. Take the baptist communion at face value as just a symbol. Eat the wafer and drink the juice and think nothing more about it, except for the fact that it will please your husband, which I think is the most important aspect of this whole thread.

Your priest said OK, and my biggest concern is the argument that will occur on the ride home with your husband.
 
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